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Val Garland MAC cosmetics MasterClass In London

London is the place where all artists meet and inspire one another. In a special Master makeup event presented by Val Garland, a group of makeup artists who are united in their passion for makeup made a huge impact on exchanging ideas and opinions in the art of makeup. Val Garland is well known for the creative sculpture art in each photo she presents. The photo itself is a piece of art.

The room was amazing and very inspiring. I met many makeup artists from all over the world, 2 from Milano, 2 from Sweden, 1 from Denmark and many more.

However, we were like 20 people, we left the hotel to the cocktail reception; it was freezing when we arrived and there was like 100 makeup artists waiting in line to get inside. We mingled at the reception with various nationalities and different background until it was a time to take a seat and let the show begin.

5 Models sat on chairs

The 1st round, it started with beautiful catwalk show along with an artistic makeup; each came with a different style from hair to makeup to a completely different look then later on, Van Garland came out wearing a black suit with turquoise silk skirt and a cheerful smile. Her presence was marvelous and behind her we saw five models, each sat on a chair different than the catwalk, makeup was half prepared.

Later on, Val shared some of her secrets and stories from her own experiences. She had this inspiring sparkle in her eyes that shows her smart intellectual talent in makeup, she said something that made me write it down on my phone, she said ‘’ Is she indeed wearing makeup or it’s just a mask?’’ because coincidently I mentioned that in my book where I said, I strongly believe that makeup can be done by one of two ways, either by a simple makeup that defines you or by a makeup that allows you to wear a mask each time. The mask doesn’t hide who you are but it brings out who you want to be.

Jumping to the 1nd look, we went to the first model and Val told us about her way of applying red lipstick, and that there is always a story behind every makeup and why she chose to do that. I loved her sense of humor and how she makes fun of some habits that she has.

1st Look applying red lipstick

Then jumping to the 2nd look where Val talked about how do the designer ask for unusual things and then she transformed the face into an art. She did a gothic style but in a modern fashion style.

2nd Look, gothic look in a modern fashionable way

The 3rd look was both funny and sad story at the same time; it took us to different emotional levels of appalling and optimal moods. She told us her story how she started her makeup with a beautiful perfect eyeliner then she wanted to do her lips but instead of a lipstick, she colored them blue, it was very emotional while she was drawing all over the model’s face explaining why she did that. It was because she started to think of her life. While Val was painting on that model’s face in a ghastly way, I felt sorry for all women. It took me away while listening to the story.

3rd Look, drawing all over the face

Suddenly, I got emotional while she was talking about creativity and I cried because I lived the moment and got carried away with flashback from my previous work in a photo shoot, I was being creative with my eyeliner around the model eyes and the stylist came to me and said to avoid being crazy and I should stop so I stopped. Just for a minute, I thought maybe if they gave me a chance to go for my idea that day, I would have had my own painting.

Later on, inspirational quotes appeared on screen and it was captivating. I also believe that Makeup is like a painting why not to put it on the face. So when you look at the model’s face as if you’re looking at a certain painting in a gallery.

Quotes

Quotes

Quotes

In addition to that, the most challenging thing when you work in this business is that when you deal with a client and they sometimes limit the artist’s creativity, I say sometimes if you give the artist some freedom of choice, he might transform the work into something even better or unexpected spectacular work. Never the less, each artist has his own way of visualizing the piece of art and surely his own story behind it.

The 4th look was for Vivienne Westwood and Val where she started telling us stories about her job and relation with the designer and how much she likes to work with her because of her creativity on the catwalk. She added that there are very inspiring art galleries in NY, it’s amazing and very colorful.

4th Look, Vivian Westwood

The 5th look, that one was done in a second it’s all about glitter and how can a small idea look so great on the catwalk. Then all the models came back on stage and Val thanked her team for the makeup they have done. People started throwing their questions and I liked when she answered that she is inspired by all of us as makeup artists.

5th Look, the glitter one

Conversely, I loved Val wisdom and knowledge because I truly believe that a true inspiration comes from a makeup artist inspiring another makeup artist but of course without copying other artist’s work, it should only stop with inspiration.